Railroad-spike.



IVI. A. RICCI.

RAILROAD SPIKE. A PPLICATIQN FILED ]U| .Y 28. 19!].

Patented Apr. 30,1918.

RAILROAD-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 30, 1918.

Application filed July 28, 1917. Serial No. 183,307.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARK ANTONIO R1001,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Olairton, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad- Spikes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in a railroad spike and has for one of its objects the provision of a device of this character, whereby the same will be prevented from breaking loose in a railroad tie or becoming disengaged from the rail.

Another object of this invention is the provision of upwardly inclined shoulders formed upon the spike and adapted to bite into the wood of the tie to prevent the same from becoming accidentally withdrawn from the tie.

A further object of this invention is the provision of pointed projections formed upon each lateral edge of the shoulders and projecting beyond the lateral faces of the railroad spike for the purpose of biting into the railroad tie and assuring an eflicient grip upon the tie and which will prevent the spike from being withdrawn from the tie accidentally.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a railroad spike of the above stated character, Which shall be simple, durable and efficient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a, comparatively low cost.

With these and other objects in view, as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroad spike constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same,

Fig. 3 is a top plan View illustrating the formation of the head of the spike,

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the pointed extensions upon the shoulders.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view partly in section of the railroad spike.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a body portion of a railroad spike having formed upon its upper end, an elongated head 2, which head is I adapted to project over the flange 3 of a rail for securing the rail to a tie 4. The spike is driven into the tie in the usual manner so that the head overlies the flange of the rail. The lower end of the body is beveled as shown at 5 for the purpose of providing a sharpened or pointed end for the spike so that the same may be readily driven into the tie 4.

A plurality of shoulders 6 are formed upon the front and rear faces of the spike and are located in relatively spaced relation with each other. The shoulders 6 are each provided with a horizontal top face and an upwardly inclined side face. Upwardly and outwardly inclined pointed extensions 7 are formed on each end of the shoulders and project beyond the lateral faces of the body 1 for the purpose of biting into the tie when the spike has been driven home in the tie 4. The pointed extensions 7 provide comparatively large gripping faces to the spike so that the same will be prevented from being accidentally withdrawn from the tie as by upper pressure orpull upon the spike, the projections bite into the tie, making it necessary to tear the fiber of the tie around the spike before the spike can be removed from the tie 4.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be noted that a novel means has been provided for retaining a railroad spike in a tie, and which will prevent the loosening of a spike in the tie while securing the rail to the tie.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

A railroad spike comprisin a body, a head on said body, shoulders ormed upon the front and rear faces of said body, and In testimony whereof I aflix my signature each ht'ving it harizantaltop 308 and an in presence of two witnesses.

upWar 1y inc inec si e face, an upwardly and outwardly inclined pointed extensions MARK ANTONIO RICCI' formed upon each end of each shoulder and Vvitnesses:

adapted to bite into a, tie to prevent the spike JOHN T. BAKER,

from being Withdrawn therefrom. SARAH B. PENN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

